Apparatus for increasing social interaction over an electronic network

ABSTRACT

In one embodiment, a system includes a server that hosts webpages facilitating user interaction between multiple endpoints. The system monitors for a user input requesting initiation of a happy hour, and when the input is detected, modifies the webpages to alert users of the happy hour. The users are notified of which user initiated the happy hour, and are also notified that interaction incentives accumulate at an increased rate during the happy hour. The system also tracks user scorings that accumulate based on the user interaction, and enables certain website features based on these user scorings. The system also tracks ratings for user-uploaded objects and identifies top rated objects for displaying on webpages viewable by other users.

BACKGROUND

People have used email and chat rooms to interact with each other overelectronic networks such as the Internet. When people use email forcommunication, typically they first meet offline, then exchange emailaddresses and subsequently communicate in a non-real time fashionsimilar to how people have historically communicated using real mail.When people use chat rooms, they occasionally introduce each other forthe first time online and then haphazardly try to find each other in thechat room at the same time to remain in contact.

Although the advance of the Internet and networking technology ingeneral has improved accessibility to email and chat room systems,website design to encourage people meeting and interacting online hasremained relatively primitive. That is, these email and chat roomsystems still rely on people first meeting offline, or haphazardlyrunning into each other online. As a result, meeting people andinteracting over electronic networks is currently much less desirablethan meeting and interacting in person. The disclosure that followssolves this and other problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one embodiment, a system includes a server that hosts webpagesfacilitating user interaction between multiple endpoints. The systemmonitors for a user input requesting initiation of a happy hour, andwhen the input is detected, modifies the webpages to alert users of thehappy hour. The users are notified of which user initiated the happyhour, and are also notified that interaction incentives accumulate at anincreased rate during the happy hour. The system also tracks userscorings that accumulate based on the user interaction, and enablescertain website features based on these user scorings. The system alsotracks ratings for user-uploaded objects and identifies top ratedobjects for displaying on webpages viewable by other users.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example system for increasing social interactionover an electronic network.

FIG. 2A illustrates a webpage displayed to all members and controlled bythe apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 2B illustrates how a user-initiated happy hour period alters thewebpage that is illustrated in FIG. 2A.

FIG. 3 illustrates example functionality that may be enabled on a useraccount when the user account reaches certain point thresholds.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example method for using the referral correlatorincluded in the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example method for using the interaction monitorincluded in the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example method for using the integration counterincluded in the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example method for using the community upkeepanalyzer included in the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example method for using the happy hour initiatorincluded in the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

Several preferred examples of the present application will now bedescribed with reference to the accompanying drawings. Various otherexamples of the invention are also possible and practical. Thisapplication may be exemplified in many different forms and should not beconstrued as being limited to the examples set forth herein.

The figures listed above illustrate preferred examples of theapplication and the operation of such examples. In the figures, the sizeof the boxes is not intended to represent the size of the variousphysical components. Where the same element appears in multiple figures,the same reference numeral is used to denote the element in all of thefigures where it appears. When two elements operate differently,different reference numerals are used regardless of whether the twoelements are the same class of network device.

Only those parts of the various units are shown and described which arenecessary to convey an understanding of the examples to those skilled inthe art. Those parts and elements not shown are conventional and knownin the art.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example system for increasing social interactionover an electronic network.

The system 100 includes a server 1 that hosts a domain or websitecontaining webpages for facilitating user interaction. In the presentexample, the server 1 hosts a website that allows a user to create apersonal account for interacting with other account holders connected tothe website. The server 1 allows a user to set up a profile over userinput 2 describing himself for viewing by other users, to upload apicture to the server 1 for viewing by other users, to view other userprofiles and pictures, and to instantly message other users he isinterested in meeting. In other examples, the server 1 may be anynetwork device and may host an online auction site, a website forallowing employees of a same company to interact across the globe, adating website, or any other website containing webpages forfacilitating interaction between users over an electronic network.

The apparatus 3 sends communications 4A to the server 1 to controlcontent appearing on the webpages. The communications 4A include globalwebsite changes that encourage user logon and interaction during certainpeak times (happy hours). The communications 4A also includeuser-specific webpages changes, such as updates to the user's viewableprofile, to photos or other information for enticing interaction fromother users. These communications 4A are sent according to user input 2received when users of the hosted domain send communications from remoteendpoints. The apparatus 3 also sends award notifications 4B in responseto the user input 2 to further encourage user interaction. Although thepresent example uses the apparatus 3 for communicating with the server1, in other examples the functionality of the apparatus 3 may beembodied in software or logic stored on the server 1 or one or morenetwork devices directly connected to the server 1 so that the apparatus3 may be omitted.

Scoring Users Based on Interaction and Tracking User Object Ratings

The apparatus 3 includes a table 12 for tracking scores for all theusers of the domain, as well as for tracking user ratings of objects forall users and for other reasons. With respect to score, the table 12tracks a current score for each user. The apparatus 3 increases theuser's current score whenever an input 2 is detected that, generallyspeaking, includes user interaction or improves the online community ina way that facilitates socialization amongst users. As will be discussedin greater detail, a user's score is increased when the user refersanother member, interacts with other members, takes steps to integrateinto the community, or improves the community in some way. As the user'sscore increases, certain web site features are enabled for the user andthe user increases in level. The apparatus 3 provides the user access tonewly enabled functionality, for example, by causing a webpage displayedat the user's endpoint to be updated with a graphical interface thatallows the user to control the newly enabled functionality.Additionally, the tracked user scorings may also control a titledisplayed with the username of the user account and the color of ausername.

The table 12 also tracks whether the user has a top object such as a topphoto, top web log (blog), top profile, top music track, top video, etc.The input 2 provides ratings on objects submitted by the differentusers, which are tracked in the table 12 so that highest rated objectscan be identified according to category. In other words, top objects arenot directly affected by the uploading user's score but rather by userratings for those objects. For example, the user Bob has a much lowerscore than Alice, but his profile Z is rated higher than Alice'sprofile. As will be explained later in greater detail, top objects aredisplayed on homepages (a webpage appearing immediately after userlogin) for all users thereby increasing interaction opportunities forthe user that uploaded the top rated object.

In addition to tracking user scores and object ratings, the table 12tracks an amount of tokens for each user. Tokens are awarded in many ofthe same instances as points; however, tokens do not directly controllevel, enable functionality or color/title changes. Instead, the usermay expend the tokens to purchase virtual gifts such as an electronicbeer or an electronic cherry for transferring to another user. The usermay expend the tokens on services as well, such as exchanging tokens tosend out a message that reaches all other users.

The table 12 also tracks enabled features for each user. As the userbecomes integrated into the community, and as the user reaches certainlevels or point thresholds, additional features are enabled on the useraccount. For example, Bob and Carl have not reached a point thresholdrequired to enable the broadcast of polls to all other users while Alicehas reached the required point threshold. Alice's homepage would thushave a different graphical interface that allows her to send polls,which is not displayed on homepages for Bob and Carl.

The interaction monitor 7 is connected to the table 12 and adjusts pointtotals according to interactions that involve the user account. Forexample, the user input 2 can indicate that the user account has beenused to initiate interaction with another user account. Initiatinginteraction with another user account indicates viewing an object suchas a profile, photo or blog, commenting on an object on another useraccount, or messaging another user.

Also, in the present embodiment the interaction monitor 7 increases thepoint total when the user adds another account as one of his friends,which requires mutual assent and links the accounts in the linking table8 so that each user is alerted when the other user takes certain actionsusing the account (for example by changing photo selections). Themonitor 7 may also assign points when the account is added as a fan ofanother account. Joining as a fan of another account does not requireconsent from the other account holder and causes the joined account tobe alerted when the other account takes certain actions such as changingphoto selections, but does not trigger alerts in the other direction.The monitor 7 may also assign points when the user account is added as afamily member of another account, which is similar to a friend link butallows mutual blocking. Mutual blocking occurs when one account selectsan option to block any communications from a targeted user and allfamily members to the account are also automatically blocked fromreceiving communications from the targeted user.

Similarly, the interaction monitor 7 adjusts point totals for amonitored account when other accounts initiate interaction with themonitored account. Accordingly, a score on the monitored account may beincreased whenever another account is used to view an object on theaccount, comment on a blog on the account, or message the account. Themonitor 7 also assigns points when another account adds the account as afriend, fan or family member.

In addition to the above, the interaction monitor 7 in combination withthe table 12 also tracks object ratings for updating the table 12 withtop objects. For example, when Alice uses her account to rate Bob'sprofile Z, the monitor 7 tracks this rating and combines it with otherratings from other users. In the present embodiment, the frequency ofthe rating, the average rating and the total number of ratings are usedto identify top objects for every twenty-four hour period, which areidentified in the table 12. In other embodiments, ratings may even beweighted based on the rater's score so that a rating from a higherscorer, such as Alice, affects the average rating of Bob's profile Zmore than a rating from a lower scorer such as Carl. In the presentembodiment, users may rate objects using a rating range of one to ten,with ratings of eleven enabled for either high scoring users or usersthat paid a premium joining fee. Other rating ranges may be used inother embodiments.

The apparatus 3 also includes a referral correlator 5 that adjusts pointtotals stored in the table 12 according to whether the user accountrefers a new account. When a user such as Alice triggers an invitationto a new user such as Darcy, the correlator assigns Alice a point bonusbased on the referral. Additionally, the correlator 5 links Alice andDarcy in the linking table 6 so that referrals by Darcy can becorrelated to Alice as well. This allows the correlator 6 to assignadditional point awards to Alice whenever Darcy (or even one of Darcy'sreferrals) refers another user. Also, the entries in the table 6 can beused so that whenever Darcy (or one of her referrals) obtains a pointaward for any reason, Alice may be assigned a small, predetermined ratioof that point award, for example one percent.

The apparatus 3 also includes an integration counter 9 for improvingintegration of new users into the website community. The counter 9identifies when a new user meets certain integration criteria, such asposting a primary photo of themselves in their profile. Whenever one ofthese criteria is met, the counter 9 communicates with the table 12 todenote either a point award, a token award, or to indicate a newfunctionality to be enabled. For example, when Carl posts a primaryphoto, the counter 9 may signal the table 12 to indicate that Carl'saccount should be denoted as enabled to view full profiles of othermembers. As a result, after uploading the primary photo and thusbecoming more integrated into the community, a webpage displayed atCarl's endpoint indicates that Carl may view full profiles of otherusers. Alternatively, the counter 9 may communicate with the table 12 toremove a maximum point total ceiling for Carl when Carl posts a primaryphoto or performs some other interaction criteria. In other words, Carlmay be limited from exceeding a certain point maximum no matter how manyinteractions he performs until Carl uploads a primary photo.

The counter 9 also causes the apparatus 3 to send communications 4A thatinclude global website changes. For example, when a new user such asDarcy joins the community, the apparatus 3 signals the server 1 tomodify every webpage on the website to identify Darcy as a new user. Inone example, every webpage or every user homepage includes a scrollingbar that scrolls profiles of new users such as Darcy for viewing byevery other member.

The apparatus 3 also includes a community upkeep analyzer 11 thatmodifies scores marked in the table 12 whenever one of the accounts areused to upkeep the community. For example, the analyzer 11 in oneembodiment assigns an award to Alice's account when that account reportsthat another user has inappropriately uploaded an object.Inappropriateness may be determined based on an appropriateness policydisplayed on one or more of the webpages. This appropriateness policydesignates three types of objects in this example, a first type that isappropriate for viewing at a typical workplace, a second type that maybe uploaded but must be flagged as not appropriate for viewing at atypical workplace, and a third type that is not appropriate for thewebsite regardless of flagging. Thus, the analyzer 11 may award Alicepoints for identifying a third type of object that must be removed or asecond type of object that is not flagged, and each of these actions mayelicit different point awards. The analyzer 11 may also remove points orprevent Alice from gaining any additional points for a predeterminedamount of time when the report is identified as a false report.

In other embodiments, the analyzer 111 may also automatically change apoint total for the user account that uploaded the inappropriate object.For example, when a user uploads an object that is later determined tobe inappropriate, any points awarded to the user for the uploaded objectmay be automatically retracted or a larger point penalty may be applied.

In yet other embodiments, the table 12 may list a very high scoring useraccount as enabled for board monitoring so that one of the scored usersmay control removal of objects or text that is inappropriate accordingto the appropriateness policy. When such a user removes inappropriateobjects or text, the analyzer 11 user award a point bounty to the user'saccount.

Happy Hour

The apparatus 3 also includes a happy hour controller 19 for controllinghappy hour in response to a user input 2. One function performed by thecontroller 19 is triggering website changes using the communications 4Asent to the server 1. These global website changes promote user activityduring the happy hour period and provide recognition for the user thatinitiated the happy hour (who may have paid a fee or expended tokens toinitiate the happy hour using input 2). Another function of thecontroller 19 is triggering a change in point and token assignment ratesduring the happy hour by communicating with the server 1. Yet anotherfunction of the initiator is indicating and implementing discounts ontoken or cash purchasable items during the happy hour by modifying thewebsite using the communications 4A. Each of these functions will beexplained in greater detail in turn.

The functioning of the controller 19 to control webpage changes isillustrated by way of FIGS. 2A and 2B, which show the global websitechanges occurring during the happy hour. FIG. 2A shows the homepage 29before happy hour is initiated, while FIG. 2B shows the page 29 afterhappy hour is initiated.

Referring to FIG. 2A, an example of a user homepage 29 hosted by theserver 1 (FIG. 1) is shown. The user homepage 29 includes a website name30A. The page 29 also includes a scrolling display 32A for displayingtop objects such as top rated photo X indicated in the table 12 (FIG.1), photos of new users and photos of currently online users.

The page 29 also displays an alert window 34A that provides variousindications about website operation as well as award notifications andindications of activity by other users. The page also includes amessaging window 36A that displays links to other users such as thoselinked in table 8 (FIG. 1). The page 29 also includes a useradvertisement window 38 that displays messages that are sent from oneuser to all other users. For example, one user may expend tokens or paymoney to have his message and photo sent to all website users fordisplay in window 38.

The page 29 also includes a link 42 to a user-directory, which displaysphotos and names of every site member. The page 29 includes atoken-biddable spotlight space 44A, which spotlights a user's profileand photo for a predetermined amount of time when a user wins an auctionusing tokens or money. The page 29 also includes a top referrers field45 that identifies top referrers identified by the correlator 5 (FIG.1).

The page 29 also includes profile information 46 that allows a user toview and edit his active profile. Other user objects may be uploaded orchanged using the navigation window 40.

The page 29 also includes a field 48 showing photos of members that haverecently viewed the user's profile included in field 46. Thus, the useris able to identify other members that viewed his profile and that maybe interested in communicating with him. A field 50 shows polls that arebroadcasted by users having a score sufficient to enable pollingfunctionality as indicated by table 12 (FIG. 1).

A portion 52A organizes links to expend tokens or money, such as bypurchasing virtual beers, initiating happy hours, purchasing useradvertisements in the window 38, etc. Another window 54 provides variousother information such as links to flash games, links to online loungesor chat rooms that may be formed and controlled by high scoring users,links to audio or video segments uploaded by other users, etc.

Referring now to FIG. 2B, upon initiation of the happy hour theapparatus 3 communicates with the server 1 to make several changes tothe user homepage 29, as well as other pages on the site. For instance,in the present embodiment the name 60A of the user that purchased thehappy hour with tokens or money and a visual representation 60B of theuser is included in the updated website name field 30B. The visualrepresentation 60B may include a photo, video clip, animated image, etc.of the user or selected by the user for representing himself. Thischange is preferably included on the user homepage 29 as well everyother page on the website to acknowledge the user that initiated thehappy hour. Additionally, during happy hour contact information 60C forthe user is included in the updated messaging window 36B for everyuser's homepage regardless of whether those other users have identifiedthe triggering user as a friend or fan, or have even previouslyinteracted with the triggering user. As a result, these other users areonly one click away from typing a message that thanks the triggeringuser.

Other changes are made to notify all users that the happy hour has beeninitiated. Accordingly, other portions such as 34B, 44B and 52B areupdated with notifications such as 62, 60 and 53 indicating that happyhour is active and/or that discounts or point/bidding multipliers arecurrently being applied. Additionally, the background color for thewebsite may change from color 55A (FIG. 2A) to color 55B (FIG. 2B).Also, the scrolling display 32B scrolls at a faster rate during thehappy hour, for example twice as fast. A background color for thescrolling display 32B may also change.

The homepage 29 illustrates several of the display portions includingphotos. In other embodiments, any visual representation of a user may besubstituted for these photos including a video clip, an animated image,etc.

Referring back to FIG. 1, in addition to causing changes to some or allof the webpages hosted by the server 1, the controller 19 also triggersa change in point and token assignment rates during the happy hour toincentivize user activity for increased socialization during the happyhour. For example, the controller 19 signals the correlator 5 toincrease referral point awards for referrals occurring during the happyhour. Similarly, the controller 19 signals the interaction monitor 7 tomultiply points assigned in the table 12 for interaction occurringduring the happy hour. Point assignments may be doubled or increased bysome other predetermined rate during the happy hour. The predeterminedrate may be dynamic based on the time of day (e.g. happy hours in theearly morning may multiply point assignments less than happy hoursoccurring closer to typical work hours). The predetermined rate may beselected based on empirical analysis of how much of a rate increase isneeded to cause a certain amount of users to login during the happy hourbased on a current total subscription number. Similarly, the counter 9and the analyzer 11 are also signaled so that any corresponding point ortoken assignments may also be increased.

Another function of the happy hour controller 19 is to initiatediscounts during happy hour. For example, the controller 19 may signalthe token counter 13 to apply a discount before adjusting remainingtokens amounts in response to purchases occurring on the website. Thesignaling of the token counter 13 or the changes to the webpages hostedby the server 1 can thus provide discounts for all items sold on thewebsite. The discounts may vary based on whether an item is purchasedwith money or tokens, and the discounts may vary based on the time ofday and the amount of active users during the happy hour. Thus, in otherembodiments where the website represents an electronic store, a singleuser may pay a fee to initiate a discount period where discounts becomeavailable to all users of the website. In such an example, the “singleuser” may be a company that is funding the discount in exchange foradvertising provided by the website to all member users during the happyhour.

The happy hour controller 19 may interface with the clock 15 and theactive user counter 17 so that the price for initiating a happy hourdepends both on time of day and an amount of active users.Alternatively, the happy hour price may remain constant but the lengthof the happy hour may change depending on time of day or an amount ofactive users. A happy hour duration may be one hour, or any amount oftime, e.g. ten minutes or ninety minutes, etc. The cost to initiate ahappy hour may be predetermined and fixed, or selected according to anauction so that a highest bidding user during a certain time period isthe user initiating happy hour for his bid amount.

The term happy hour encompasses all temporary time periods usable forsocializing. For example, the term happy hour encompasses a birthdaymode whereby a user pays a certain amount of money or tokens to put thesite into birthday mode. The graphics displayed on the webpages maychange to alert members that there is a birthday, and the incentiverates and discounts may all be implemented. The same site may havemultiple different types of happy hours, e.g. a first type to celebratethe end of a work day, the second type to celebrate a birthday, thethird type to celebrate the birth of a new child, etc. Each of thesedifferent types may have different incentive rate changes and differentdiscount amounts, and may trigger theme changes for the website layout(balloon images for birthday mode, stork images for new childcelebration mode, etc.). The term happy hour also encompasses coffeebreaks, siestas, tea time, graduation celebrations, etc. In one example,the website automatically triggers a happy hour during super bowlhalftimes or during breaks occurring between other major sportingevents.

The happy hour may represent any time related event that is nottriggered by a user input but rather triggered by a certain timeoccurring. For example, the apparatus 3 may include a database thatlists the birthdays of every website member in an internal table.Whenever one of these birthdates occurs, the apparatus 3 isautomatically triggered to initiate the happy hour. The member whosebirthday triggered the happy hour is recognized in a similar manner as amember sending a happy hour trigger.

The temporary time periods can be established to correspond with anyarbitrary event, for any arbitrary length of time, at any arbitrary timeof day. The temporary time periods may give any arbitrary pointallocation scheme, e.g. double interaction incentives, tripleinteraction incentives, an interaction incentive that is based on howmuch an advertiser pays to initiate the temporary time period, etc.Similarly any discounts based on token or money price listings may beany arbitrary amount and may be based on how much an advertiser pays toinitiate the temporary time period.

FIG. 3 illustrates example functionality that may be enabled on a useraccount when the user account reaches certain point thresholds.

Referring to FIG. 3, other functionality besides the pollingfunctionality can be enabled for a user when that user reaches a certainpoint threshold. The table 90 denotes a point threshold field 91indicating a point threshold both for enabling a website function listedin field 92 and for earning a username title listed in field 93. Inother words, scores for each of the users from table 12 (FIG. 1) arecompared to the table 90 for determining when to update the enabledfeatures column in the table 12 (FIG. 1).

For example, referring to FIG. 3 when a user account reaches fivehundred points the enabled features field in the table 12 (FIG. 1) isupdated to enable the custom online status feature for that useraccount. This functionality allows a corresponding user to set a customonline status that indicates, to other users, the user's current statusexpressed in terms selected by the user. In other words, a user reachingfive hundred points can set a user-entered custom online status such as“working at the coal mine,” instead of system-provided default statusindicators such as “online”, “busy”, “away”, “offline”, etc.

Referring still to FIG. 3, when the user account reaches one thousandpoints, the user account may vote on a poll sent out by another usereven though the user cannot yet broadcast polls himself. At fourthousand points the user account is enabled with full pollingfunctionality so that the user can himself sends polls to other members.

When the user account reaches two thousand points, the user may postcomments below another member's blog, e.g. HyperText Markup Language(HTML) comments. Comment functionality may also unlock the ability topost comments corresponding to any other member object such as a memberphoto or profile.

When the user account reaches six thousand five hundred points, the usermay be enabled to download or “rip” an object posted by another user.For example, when another user posts an object such as a photo, thephoto is uploaded to the server. A user for an account having sixthousand five hundred points or more can then download that photo fromthe server to the user's machine for viewing offline, locally modifying,posting himself, etc.

When the user account reaches thirty five thousand points, the useraccount can be used to create a chat room. The user creating the chatroom has certain management functions such as having the ability toinvite members to the chat room, to expel a current chat roomparticipant, to temporarily censor a chat room participant, etc.

When the user account reaches one million, five hundred thousand theaccount is enabled for posting bulletins. The user account enabled withbulletins can be used to post bulletins, which are permanent messageslinked on window 54 (FIG. 2) or another window on the user homepages.

The amount of photos or other objects a user may have posted at any onetime increases at various point thresholds as shown in FIG. 3. Thisfeature prevents new users that have not proven an ongoing interest inthe community from using a disproportionate amount of uploading space ona server that hosts the website. Similarly, a user account can have sixthousand friends linked to it at any given time instead of some lowerdefault amount when the user account reaches twenty five thousandpoints. Other thresholds are shown for extending a default limit on anamount of object ratings and for extending a default limit on an amountof family members.

Reaching other point thresholds unlocks various other functionality,such as allowing the user account to show a nickname that connotes moreexperience within the community than a default nickname enabled on anaccount, e.g. unlocking the nickname “meat.” Reaching point thresholdsmay also change titles from a default title such as “freshmeat” to othertiles that denote a great deal of investment in the community (e.g.“cherry godfather”).

These enabled functionalities shown in FIG. 3 are only some of the typesof functions that can be enabled for an account reaching a particularscore threshold. Other examples include allowing only high scoring useraccounts to view objects that have been tagged as inappropriate forviewing at work (or some other environment) according to anappropriateness policy displayed on the website. Other examples includeenabling a user account to view or access an entire category of objects(e.g. all photos or all profiles) only when a certain score threshold isreached. Thus, any functionality can be enabled according to a scorethreshold. Generally, functionality that allows a user to have widerinteraction capability within the online community requires higherscores, which prevents users that have not been vetted throughexperience from heavily influencing (and potentially maliciouslydisrupting) the community and the webpages with obscene or otherwiseundesirable communications.

In yet other examples, a particular functionality may be enabled onlyafter a user account reaches a particular score threshold and the useraccount performs some other predefined interaction criteria. Forexample, a user account may be allowed to bold the username only afterreaching a score of four hundred and twenty five thousand and uploadinga primary photo that is authenticated as an actual depiction of theuser's face. In other embodiments, any of the functionally shown in FIG.3 may be enabled when a user completes some predefined interactioncriteria and regardless of the user's score.

Also, the actual score thresholds for enabling functionality may varyfrom what is shown in FIG. 3. Moreover, in other examples, fixed scoredthresholds are not required. Instead, particular website functionalitymay be enabled only for the top ten highest scoring user accounts, orenabled for all user accounts having a score above a median score.

The titles listed in the field 93 may be automatically applied to ausername when the user account reaches a new point threshold indicatedin the field 91. Any titles may be used, but the titles should beselected to connote more experience and time investment in the communityfor users having higher scores.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example method for using the referral correlatorincluded in the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1.

In block 401, a new user account is correlated to a referring memberaccount. In block 402, the correlator 5 identifies a one-time pointamount for assigning to the referring member account. The correlator 5then determines a time that a corresponding referring message thatsolicited the referral was sent using the referring member account inblock 403. In block 404, the correlator 5 determines whether the timeoccurred during a happy hour. When the time did occur during the happyhour, the one-time point amount is increased in block 405. In block 406,the correlator 5 updates the referring member profile with the initialpoint amount.

In block 407, the correlator 5 correlates the referring member accountwith new user account in a referral-linking table. The referring memberaccount score is increased by a predetermined percentage of every pointawarded to the new user account in block 408.

In block 409, the referring member account is correlated with newmembers whenever the linked new account refers a new member. In block410, the correlator 5 increases the referring member account score by adifferent predetermined percentage of every point awarded to thecorrelated new members.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example method for using the interaction monitorincluded in the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1.

In block 501, the monitor 7 selects an account for assigning points toreward interaction. Typically, every account is monitored so this andthe following blocks are repeated for every account. The monitor 7determines when interaction with another account is initiated by theselected account in block 502, which may include rating a photo or otherobject on another account using the selected account, rating anotherperson using the selected account, posting a comment on another accountusing the selected account or adding the account as a friend or fan ofanother account. In block 503, the monitor 7 determines point awards forthe active interaction with other accounts.

In block 504, the monitor 7 determines when passive interaction that isnot initiated by the selected account occurs on the account, which mayinclude another user rating a photo or other object on the selectedaccount, another user viewing an object on the account, rating a userfor the selected account, posting a comment on the selected account oranother user adding his account as a friend or fan of the selectedaccount. In block 505, the monitor 7 determines point awards for thepassive interaction with other accounts.

In block 506, the monitor 7 increases the determined point awards whenthe interaction occurs during happy hour. The monitor 7 assigns thepoint awards to the selected user account in block 507, which mayincrease an assigned level and/or enable new functionality for the useraccount.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example method for using the integration counterincluded in the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1.

In block 601, the counter 9 identifies a new account to be integrated.The counter 9 causes the new user name, contact information and pictureto be displayed on webpages for other members in block 602.

In block 603, the counter 9 determines when a primary photo is uploadedby the new user to the new account. The counter 9 enables full viewingof other profiles or other interaction features on the user account inresponse to the uploading in block 604. In block 605, the counter 9assigns an additional point award when the primary photo isauthenticated. In other words, when the user verifies that the primaryphoto is actually a picture of their face, a point award is assigned.

In block 606, the counter 9 assigns a point award when the new usercompletes their profile and every time thereafter the profile isupdated. Profile modification includes changing music or video tracks,changing uploaded pictures or updating a profile description. In block607, the assigned point awards are increased when the profile change orauthentication occurs during happy hour. In block 608, the counter 9enables other interaction features as the new account reachespredetermined point thresholds.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example method for using the community upkeepanalyzer included in the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1.

In block 701, the analyzer 11 selects an account for analyzing.Typically, all accounts are analyzed at the same time. The analyzer 11determines when the selected account identifies content on another useraccount as inappropriate for the community in block 702. In block 703,the analyzer 11 assigns a point award when there is a determination thatthe identification is made according to an appropriateness policy. Thedetermination may be, for example, inputted by a site administrator thatmay not be a scored user. In block 704, the analyzer assigns a penaltywhen there is a determination that the identification is not madeaccording to the policy. In block 705, the analyzer 11 assigns the pointaward or penalty to the selected account.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example method for using the happy hour initiatorincluded in the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1.

In block 801, the initiator 19 receives an input from an account holderto initiate happy hour. The initiator 19 alters every webpage on thedomain to display the name of the user triggering the happy hour inblock 802. In block 803, the initiator 19 includes a happy hournotification in an alert window on every webpage. In block 804, theinitiator 19 includes a link for contacting the triggering user within amessaging window on every homepage.

In block 805, the initiator 19 updates a bidding section of the webpagesto indicate that the happy hour multiplies bidding values for aspotlight on the webpages. In block 806, the initiator 19 updates atoken exchange section to specify a trade-in multiplier or discountduring the happy hour. The initiator 19 may cause other indications ofhappy hour such as changing a background color on every webpage in block807. In block 808, the initiator 19 triggers an increase in pointassignments for referring, for interacting and for integrating duringthe happy hour. In block 809, the initiator 19 awards the triggeringuser a percentage of all points distributed to all members during thehappy hour, which may be applied at the end of the happy hour or asincremental amounts throughout the happy hour.

Several preferred examples have been described above with reference tothe accompanying drawings. Various other examples of the invention arealso possible and practical. The system may be exemplified in manydifferent forms and should not be construed as being limited to theexamples set forth above.

The figures listed above illustrate preferred examples of theapplication and the operation of such examples. In the figures, the sizeof the boxes is not intended to represent the size of the variousphysical components. Where the same element appears in multiple figures,the same reference numeral is used to denote the element in all of thefigures where it appears.

Only those parts of the various units are shown and described which arenecessary to convey an understanding of the examples to those skilled inthe art. Those parts and elements not shown are conventional and knownin the art.

The system described above can use dedicated processor systems, microcontrollers, programmable logic devices, or microprocessors that performsome or all of the operations. Some of the operations described abovemay be implemented in software and other operations may be implementedin hardware.

For the sake of convenience, the operations are described as variousinterconnected functional blocks or distinct software modules. This isnot necessary, however, and there may be cases where these functionalblocks or modules are equivalently aggregated into a single logicdevice, program or operation with unclear boundaries. In any event, thefunctional blocks and software modules or features of the flexibleinterface can be implemented by themselves, or in combination with otheroperations in either hardware or software.

Having described and illustrated the principles of the invention in apreferred embodiment thereof, it should be apparent that the inventionmay be modified in arrangement and detail without departing from suchprinciples. I claim all modifications and variation coming within thespirit and scope of the following claims.

1. A system, comprising: means for tracking user-assigned ratings ofobjects that are user-uploaded onto one or more webpages; means forranking the objects according to the tracked user-assigned ratings;means for tracking user scorings that are increased according to userinteractions that include the ratings of the objects by the users suchthat the user scorings represent an amount that corresponding users haveused the webpages to interact with each other; means for assigninglevels to the users according to the user scorings; and means forcausing the top-ranked objects and the assigned levels to be displayedon the webpages for viewing by the users.
 2. The system of claim 1further comprising: means for identifying user accounts having acorresponding user-scoring that exceeds different score thresholds; andmeans for enabling only users of the identified user accounts to accessfeatures associated with the different score thresholds that are notavailable to other user accounts that do not exceed the different scorethresholds.
 3. The system of claim 2 further comprising means forupdating one or more homepages corresponding with the identified useraccounts for broadcasting polls to other users.
 4. The system of claim 1further comprising weighting object ratings according to user scoringssuch that ratings by higher scored users affect the object ratings morethan ratings by lower scored users.
 5. The system of claim 1 furthercomprising means for increasing user scorings faster per interactionduring a temporary time period that is initiated in response to an inputsent from one of the users.
 6. The system of claim 5 further comprisingmeans for altering the webpages to identify the user that sent the inputinitiating the temporary time period using contact information for theuser and a visual representation of the user.
 7. The system of claim 1further comprising means for assigning points to users that identifyinappropriate user-uploaded objects.
 8. An apparatus comprising: one ormore processors; and a memory coupled to the processors comprisinginstructions executable by the processors, the processors operable whenexecuting the instructions to: determine when a user of a websitecommunicates with another user of the website; determine when one ormore of the users rate content uploaded by another user; and awardpoints to the users initiating the communications and rating thecontent, the points controlling what website functionality is availableto the users.
 9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the processors arefurther operable to award additional points to a first user when anotheruser rates content that is uploaded by the first user.
 10. The apparatusof claim 8 wherein the processors are further operable to assign one ormore tokens to the users corresponding with the number of awardedpoints, the tokens used for purchasing virtual gifts that aretransferred between users through the website.
 11. The apparatus ofclaim 8 wherein the processors are further operable to enable a newaccount to view entire profiles of other users in response to a new userof the new account uploading a primary visual representation for displayto the other users.
 12. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the processorsare further operable to increase the awarded points when thecommunications or the ratings occur during a happy hour period.
 13. Theapparatus of claim 8 wherein the website functionality includes allowingthe user to rip content uploaded by other users.
 14. The apparatus ofclaim 8 wherein the apparatus is located remotely from a server thathosts the website.
 15. A method comprising: assigning points to userscommunicating with other website users and rating objects uploaded bythe other website users; ranking the uploaded objects according to atleast a number of ratings received for the uploaded objects and howfrequently ratings are received for the uploaded objects; and displayingtop ranked objects and user point amounts on a main webpage for thewebsite.
 16. The method of claim 15 further comprising sending messagesthat cause the top-ranked objects to be automatically displayed to theusers whenever the users log into the monitored website.
 17. The methodof claim 15 further comprising increasing a user score for a referringuser whenever a new member identifies the referring user as a referralsource and increasing the user score for the referring user whenever thenew member is identified as causing a referral.
 18. The method of claim15 further comprising increasing a user score for a referring userwhenever a new member referred by that referring user is awarded pointsfor sending a message to another user or rating an object uploaded byanother user.
 19. The method of claim 15 further comprising enablingdifferent functionality to different website users according to theassigned points.
 20. The method of claim 19 further comprising enablingusers to vote on questions submitted by other users only when users haveassigned points equal to or above a predetermined voting capabilitythreshold.
 21. The method of claim 19 further comprising enabling fullprofile viewing when the user uploads ands authenticates a primaryvisual representation, the full profile viewing allowing the user toview full profiles uploaded by other users.
 22. The method of claim 15wherein user-uploaded web logs and user-uploaded profiles are ranked.23. The method of claim 15 further comprising identifying the top ratedobjects by category including a top photo category and top profilecategory.
 24. The method of claim 15 further comprising displaying thetop rated objects on homepages for the users in a scrolling bar thatalso displays new user photos and currently online user photos.
 25. Amethod comprising: enabling users to upload content onto personal webpages; and rating a first user according to the first user's ratings ofother user's uploaded content and according to the other user's ratingof the first user's uploaded content.
 26. The method of claim 25 furthercomprising enabling different functionality for the first user than theother users according to the rating of the first user.
 27. The method ofclaim 25 further comprising adjusting the rating of the first useraccording to communications initiated from the first user to the otherusers.
 28. The method of claim 27 further comprising adjusting therating of the first user when the other users initiate communicationswith the first user.